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For four years now the Heartsong tribe has partnered with the Seed Company (a division of Wycliffe Bible Translators) to provide a mother tongue translation of the bible for the Denya people of Cameroon, Africa. This was a project that was right down Heartsong’s alley. These were some unreached people who did not have a written language much less the bible in their own words. We partnered with the Seed Company people (by God driven serendipity) to make that happen for them.

Here is how it happened. Our family went on vacation to the Outer Banks and arrived on Friday as we always did to take over the rental house. The only problem was that Dad (that’s me) did not notice that this particular house rented from Saturday to Saturday. We were homeless for a day-all 10 of us. I knew one person out there and called him. He and his family were leaving at that moment for a vacation in Memphis! His home would be free for the night-except we would have to share it with a couple of his friends from Williamsburg who were house sitting for them.

Those folks were delightful, and later that year Monty (the housesitter) was telling a friend of his that if he were ever in Memphis he should look me up. He was and did, and just happened (wink, wink) to work for the Seed Company. I asked him to tell me about his work, and I cried. He asked about what we were up to at Heartsong, and he cried. We were both trying to reach unreached people and help them find their way home. I told Mike Toupin that we would like to investigate the possibility of taking on a project with them. He said what kind, and I said one that no one else wants. That is how we came to partner with them on the Denya project.

The bible is now complete and will be presented to the Denya in a ceremony December 18. We have said all along that some of us would go and actually hand the bibles to them. When we recently learned that would cost over $5500 per person, we felt led to try and find another way to be a part of that celebration. That $5500 would sure go a long way to help some other people group get their own translation of the bible. We are looking into the possibility of being there for the bible presentation by cell phone or skype.

What do you say about it Heartsong faithful? Would you like to take on another project with the Seed Company? Let me hear from you if you do.